Moisture detection in insulating or other non-metallic or partially metallic materials is of concern due to potential failure or degradation of an insulator from water contamination. Failure of the insulator due to moisture contamination may occur because of a simple deterioration of the insulator, an electrical malfunction, or a loss of thermal efficiency. Examples of common insulators include construction walls, roofs, heat shields and high voltage insulators. Additionally, moisture detection may be of importance in construction materials such as concrete. This is because moisture detection may help predict hydration or curing of these construction materials. Current methods of detecting moisture are generally non-destructive and typically involve a probing field. These methods attempt to fully analyze the insulator through a test surface examination. Some current testing apparatus' use a capacitance probe or a radio field, while other current testing apparatus' use a nuclear source. All of the above testing apparatus' must physically make contact with the surface. Another current testing apparatus uses needle probes which penetrate the surface. All of the non-destructive devices must first probe a surface zone before penetrating an inner zone. As a result of this limitation, the true zone of interest, which may be several inches beneath a surface, may be masked.
Thus, an improved method and apparatus to examine an embeddable environment where moisture is suspected would be well received in the art.